>> pelley: tonight, it could be a sequel to the perfect storm. hurricane sandy begins merging with a polar air mass to create a kind of superstorm not seen on the east coast in two decades. reports from chip reid and meteorologist david bernard. the economy picks up steam, but is it enough to get unemployment down? anthony mason on the last economic report on growth before the election. the school girl shot for standing up to the taliban is ready to do it again. liz palmer on her bold promise. and steve hartman in search of -- >> reporter: a sleeping horse. people stacking eggplants. a squirrel in midair. captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> >> pelley: good evening. this will be an angst weekend. a hurricane from the caribbean and an arctic weather system from the west have started joining forces to create what could be a superstorm. hurricane sandy is about 400 miles south-southeast of charleston, south carolina, moving north. tropical storm watches and warnings are up from florida to north carolina. the surf is up already in south florida. landfall is expected early next week between virginia and southern new england. 64 million people are in harm's way, more than 40 have been killed in the caribbean. we have two reports tonight, first, meteorologist david bernard in miami, our cbs news hurricane consultant and, david, two questions: where and when? >> well, the latest, scott, is that sandy is a 75 mile per hour hurricane, as you mentioned, and it's slowed down its movement. let's look at this 5:00 advisory

moving to the north at seven. i think that's just temporary as it looks like the hurricane will pick up the pace tonight and tomorrow and by the time we get to sun afternoon will make its closest approach to the outer banks of north carolina. by sunday afternoon, the tides are going to start going up in the mid-atlantic and the northeast, the winds are going to start increasing and then that sharp turn to the west is expected on monday or monday night and anywhere from long island to the delmarva, that's where we could be looking at landfall from this giant storm. and that's another thing to consider: it's going to be giant and our significant wind impact probabilities-- meaning 58 miles per hour or greater-- it covers a huge area. very large population center, as you mentioned, and therefore the potential for power outages is great and really could affect a ton of people. >> pelley: david, you tell us about the wind, but so often the damage comes from the storm surge, too. what do you expect there? >> you know, that's really a dangerous aspect of the storm. we talk about losing lives in hurricanes and coastal storms, flooding is the number one reason for it. so people need to pay close

attention to what their emergency management is saying if they live in those zones. and we have two things happening to make this a bad situation. the first one is the angle of approach. the storm is going to be coming in directly from the east to the west, and that's going to allow the maximum amount of water to pile into these vulnerable areas. then, wouldn't you know it, we have a full moon on monday combined with multiple tide cycles that the storm is going to be occurring through, meaning we're probably going to have more than one high tide that we have to deal with. so it's a real high risk for storm surge flooding in addition to everything else we've been talking about: the wind and even the snowfall that may occur well inland. >> pelley: high wind; high water. david, thank you very much. states of emergency were declared today in washington, d.c. as well as the states of new york, pennsylvania, virginia, and maryland where chip reid is tonight. chip? >> reporter: well, scott, last year ocean city, maryland, mostly dodged hurricane irene, but forecasters say this time they may not be as lucky here

with sandy. tourists on the ocean city board walk today seemed unphased by the approaching storm. but it was a darker mood among those who live here. bill purnell boarded up his bike shop. >> i'm pretty worried. one out of 10? i'd say i'm definitely a nine. >> we are concerned about the flooding. >> reporter: rick meehan is ocean city's mayor. what is your biggest worry about this storm? >> well, we have concerns about the intensity of the storm, what the wind levels are going to be when the storm actually gets here and we have concerns of some of the effects of the storm, mostly, i think, the possibility of flooding in some of the low-lying areas of town. >> reporter: off cape cod, coast guard planes directed fishing boats back to port. on shore, 20,000 utility workers have been put on stand by to repair outages along the eastern sea board. last year, hurricane irene caused a loss of power for more than six million households in this region, some were in the dark for weeks. raffle larossa is president of new jersey's largest electric

company. >> when you're facing 50 to 60 miles an hour winds with all the leaves still on the trees and a soaking rain for a long period of time, we're going to see trees come over, we'll see branches come down. so it's going to have an impact on us and, again, patience and working together will be able to come through this like we always do. >> reporter: sandy could also cause over a billion dollars in damage, threatening nearly 400,000 homes in the most vulnerable areas. also in the storm's path: five east coast refineries that produce 7% of the nation's gasoline. they are expected to suspend operations as early as sunday. the u.s. military has ordered 24 warships based in norfolk, virginia, out to sea to ride out the storm and, scott, here in ocean city some businesses are trying to squeeze every last dollar out of the tourists before they have to board up and get out of town. >> pelley: so we watch and we wait. chip, thanks very much. the dark skies over the economic recovery brightened a bit today. the government told us the

economy grew at a 2% annual rate in the third quarter. that's better than expected and up 1.3% in the second quarter. where's the economy cooking? we asked anthony mason to show us. >> reporter: from its store front in plainfield, new jersey, e & a restaurant supply ships out everything from stoves to plates and silverware. owner joel green says restaurants are opening again and that's been good for business. >> things definitely have picked up but it's been fairly strong all the way since april up until this point. >> reporter: green says the uncertainty surrounding the election is making business owners more cautious, but he likes the direction his business is headed. >> if it keeps rolling the way it is, i see it being strong. >> reporter: the 2% growth in the economy nation nationally in the third quarter was fueled in part by consumer spending which rose 2%. and by a housing market that's showing increasing signs of life. but a 13% jump in defense

spending by the government played the biggest role. without that increase, the economy's growth rate would have been only 1.4%. this is a passable number but no better than that? >> right. i don't think anyone's doing a victory lap on the economy. >> reporter: sean west studies politics and economic policy for the eurasia group. he says the numbers have something in them for both campaigns: president obama can claim the economy is growing, but governor romney can claim it's not growing fast enough. >> voters have basically drawn their conclusions about the economy already so, you know, the impact that a g.d.p. number can have or that the final jobs report on the friday before the election is going to have is won only at the margins. now, this election is close enough that the margins matter. >> reporter: as west mentioned, the last unemployment before the vote comes out a week from today. surprise in either direction could influence the outcome of the election. >> pelley: anthony, that election is now officially the most expensive in u.s. history. it just passed that milestone.

the latest numbers show the presidential campaigns and the super pacs that back them have now raised more than $2 billion. now, some other key numbers in the race. 11 is the number of days before the election. five is the number of points separating the candidates in the latest gallup poll. it shows governor romney ahead of the president 51% to 46%. a "washington post" poll shows the race tighter than that. it has romney up by a single point, 49% to 48%. but schieffer is our chief washington correspondent and anchor of "face the nation" and, bob, what do you make of these numbers? >> well, scott, i spent a good part of today with the two most respected political analysts in the country, charlie cook and stu rothenberg. their publications are the bibles for political reporters. here is what they told me in separate interviews. for the first time that either of them can remember this deep

in a campaign they have no idea who is going to win. both of them say the race is so close there is a real possibility now that romney could win the popular vote and the president the electoral college vote. cook told me he had this race figured out he thought five days ago. he saw obama as the slight favorite, now he says "i'm perplexed, i just don't know." rothenberg feels much the same. the words he uses are "feeling flummoxed." tse says there were two times this year when the race seemed to change. the president started gaining after the democratic convention, romney began to climb after the first debate. but is he still climbing? rothenberg says he just doesn't know. both men say the undecided vote now is probably between 3% and 5%. what all this suggests to me, scott, is that this election comes down to turnout. the candidate who gets his people to the polls is the candidate who's going to win.

>> pelley: thanks, bob, don't be flummoxed on sunday. join bob on "face the nation." his guests will include republican senator john mccain of arizona. the meningitis outbreak has claimed a 25th life today. 331 cases have now been reported in 18 states. we knew that the victims were victims of contaminated steroids produced by a mama pharmacy, but what the f.d.a. told us today about that pharmacy came as quite a surprise. here's dr. jon lapook. >> reporter: the food and drug administration tested 50 vials suspected to be a source of con contamination in the meningitis outbreak. they found all 50 were contaminated by bacteria or fungus. the f.d.a. says internal n.e.c.c. documents show the company tested a vial from the same lot in august and labeled it sterile. the inspection also focused on the clean room at n.e.c.c. a clean room like this one is

where ingredients are mixed to make sterile medication. the f.d.a. discovered n.e.c.c.'s own monitoring repeatedly found mold and bacteria growing on walls and surfaces. equipment used to sterilize medicine had "greenish-yellow discoloration" and air ducts were dirty. according to the f.d.a., there's no evidence n.e.c.c. did anything to fix the problems. the n.e.c.c. responded today saying "we will review this report and continue our cooperation." >> pelley: jon, thanks very much. we'll look at a key race in the battle for control of the senate. and we have the first video of malala, the pakistani girl shot by the taliban. an update on her condition when the "cbs evening news" continues ! whoa! so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn

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face every day with puffs softness. and one wedding, 2 kids, 43 bottles of olay total effects many birthdays later, still looks amazing. thanks to the trusted performance of olay. leader harry reid of nevada was in a car crash today. he was riding in a motorcade in las vegas when his car was hit from behind, reid, who is 72, was take on the a hospital but we're told he was not seriously hurt. on election day, republicans would like to take control of the senate away from harry reid and the democrats. the democrats have a 53-47 majority so the republicans would have to pick up four seats. one key to their plan is holding on to the seat that they have in massachusetts. that has become a real fight. senator scott brown is trailing

the democratic challenger elizabeth warren by six points. here's elaine quijano. >> the folks that i'm meeting day after day after day in this commonwealth, they're saying to me "you go, girl. he voted against jobs and that affects me. he voted against extension of unemployment and that affects me. he voted against equal pay for equal work and that affects me." >> reporter: 63-year-old elizabeth warren is trying to take back the senate seat now held by republican scott brown. brown stunned democrats in 2010 by winning the office the late senator ted kennedy held for 46 years. >> good luck! >> reporter: the harvard law professor who's never run for political office designed the president's consumer financial protection bureau. she's cultivated a reputation as a wall street watchdog. >> i'm not a professional politician. i got in this race because working families and little businesses have been drawing the short end of the stick for far too long now. and washington is rigged to work for big oil, to work for wall

street. >> reporter: there are a lot of people on wall street who do not want to see you in office. >> they've made that pretty clear! and they have sent lots of money to scott brown, millions of dollars, and, look, scott brown's been working with the folks on wall street for a long time. >> reporter: wall street is republican senator scott brown's biggest contributor. the financial sector donated more than $2.5 million to his reelection campaign. but in 2010, brown cast the tie-breaking vote to pass wall street reforms. >> i don' i don't owe anybody ag because nobody helps me get down there except the people of massachusetts. >> reporter: the 53-year-old is a moderate republican. he's trying to become the first massachusetts republican to win a full term to the u.s. senate since 1972. what is at stake here? >> if you figure out where the united states senate stands right now, basically you have extremes on both sides. so by sending professor warren

down there as an extremist, ultra liberal, i mean there's no argument there, and putting her into that mixer where she'll be 100% with her party, how does that solve problems? >> this particular seat could help determine who controls the senate. isn't that what this race is about? >> no, not at all. i respectfully disagree. there's 33 other races up and to think that everything boils down to massachusetts i think is really a stretch. that being said, good idea is a good idea and i have a history of working with both sides, working with the administration and praising them when it's appropriate and criticizing them when it's appropriate. >> reporter: elizabeth warren has opened up a small lead over senator brown in recent weeks but the race is too close to call. elaine quijano, cbs news, winchester, massachusetts. >> pelley: the pakistani school girl who was shot by the taliban makes a brave promise. we'll have it just ahead. ans li. it could also mean living with joint damage.

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blew himself up out outside a mosque in afghanistan today during a muslim holiday. at least 41 people were killed and more than 50 were hurt. many were soldiers and police. 15-year-old malala yousafzai is vowing to return to pakistan to take her final exams. we've been following the progress of the girl who led a campaign to open more schools to girls. she was targeted and shot in the head by the taliban. she's being treated in britain

and elizabeth palmer is there. >> reporter: at last, to go with all the expert medical care, malala's got her family with her, too. her parents and brothers arrived in birmingham to find her on the mend. >> i'm thankful to god. >> reporter: it's a miracle, said her father, ziauddin yousafzai, choking up as he recalled how he thought she was going to die. >> they wanted to kill her. she fell temporarily. she will rise again. she will stand again and she can stand now. but when she fell, pakistan stood and this is a turning point. >> reporter: it was her father who founded the school malala attended in the swat valley in western pakistan. we visited shortly after taliban gunmen had tried to kill her on a school bus. the attack had left her classmates shocked and scared but determined to keep up their studies. that's the same kind of courage malala showed in 2009 after the taliban took over and banned girls from going to school.

but malala hid her books under her shawl and went anyway. >> i want to say to the world that keep -- you must try to get education because it's very important and the second thing is that the if the new generation is not given pens they will be given guns by terrorists. >> reporter: this teenager went on to become the champion of girls' education in pakistan, which has one of the highest rates of female illiteracy in the world. today she's healing well, apparently unstoppable. in the hospital, she's already asked for her school books. for all her progress, though, scott, it's important to remember that malala has suffered an extreme trauma both physical and mental and it's going to be a long road back. however, her did did confirm today that she can see and hear well and she stood up with only a nurse to guide her at the elbow. >> pelley: certainly a good sign. elizabeth, thank you very much. one man started out collecting

bubble gum cards. wait until you see where that led. steve hartman takes us "on the road" next. is a complete multi-vitamin en's 50+ designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on!

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america is one big family, we need someone to keep our family album. fortunately someone is doing just that.

steve hartman met him "on the road." >> reporter: john rogers likes sorting through pictures. who doesn't? but for him it's not just a once in a while diversion, it's a round-the-clock operation. >> never get tired of it. >> reporter: for the last few years john and his staff of about 300 have been adding to and organizing his collection of old photos. he's got more than the associated press, the national archives and the library of congress combined! 160 million pictures. >> lots. >> reporter: you name it, he's got it. >> see if you can stump us. >.>> reporter: marshmallow production, i'm looking for production. >> no doubt about it. >> reporter: picture of me. >> i can guarantee we'll have steve hartman photos. >> reporter: he claimed to have everything. a sleeping horse, people stacking eggplants, a squirrel in midair. >> absolutely. >> reporter: we'll see what he has in a minute. but first, his back story. this started when john was a kid, buying and selling old baseball cards and photos. his grandma turner loaned him

startup money and office furniture. >> and he came to borrow my table and two chairs so he would have somewhere to do his business. >> reporter: that was then, now it's a $16 million a year business. >> and growing. >> reporter: his arkansas company takes newspaper archives from across the country, takes the rotting negatives and fading photos and converts them into digital, searchable images. the paper gets back the computer files while john keeps the physical pictures and licensing rights. can't figure out if you're a historian or horder. >> my wife would say more of a hoarder. i feel like we're saving america's history. >> reporter: john says these papers would take 300 shots of the beatles arriving in 1964. they'd print one but the other 299 have never been seen. he's found priceless shots of kennedy watching football, castro playing baseball and the most valuable one of all, which he found in the basement of an arkansas newspaper. >> this one. >> reporter: it's his grandpa, now who's now deceased, as a

young air force lieutenant colonel. >> isn't that good, snow that looks just like him. >> reporter: she'd never seen it. >> can i have this? >> sure. >> reporter: family histories, national treasures and everything in between. believe it or not, john pretty much had all the shots i asked for. the sleeping horse, marshmallow production, a squirrel in midair, a guy stacking eggplants. he even found a squirrel with an eggplant. at this point, there's really only one shot he doesn't have-- just one shot so trivial and insignificant. not one of these newspapers bothered to archive it. >> there's no picture of steve hartman. >> no picture of steve hartman? >> that's it, i'm going to start carrying an eggplant. >> i'm not giving up. >> reporter: just another news guy, "on the road," in little rock, arkansas. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, i'm scott pelley. i'll see you sunday on "60 minutes." good night. captioning sponsored by cbs

it's critically important to ask that people take precautions now. this is unlike certainly the storms i've seen in a long time. >> take your precautions right now. virginia's governor bob mcdonald urging everybody prepare for hurricane sandy. what our own erika -- the storm claimed lived of 40 people already. right foul it's spinning off the coast of florida. now forecasters say sandy poses a major threat to portions of the northeast and our neighborhood in the mid atlantic and of course we are looking at that. states of emergency have been declared in virginia, maryland, and d.c. and our local ewe tills are already wain